How to Set an iCal Event Alert in Mac OS X Lion

What’s the point of putting an iCal event on your calendar in Mac OS X Lion if you forget it? If you set an alert, iCal won’t let you forget. To set an alert in OS X Lion, click the word None with the double-headed arrow (just to the right of the word alert) in the Event info window.A menu appears. Choose the type of alert you want from the menu and then change its values to suit your needs.

You can have as many alerts as you like for each event. When you add an alert to an event, a new alert item appears below it. Just click the word None with the double-headed arrow just to the right of the word alert to create a second (or third or fifteenth) alert. To remove an alert, click the word alert, and choose None from the pop-up menu.

You’ll rarely miss an important event anymore with alerts set; iCal reminds you of them with time to spare. Better still, you can sync events and alerts between your Mac and your iPhone and iPad. You can create an event or alert on either device, and within a few minutes — through the magic of MobileMe — it magically appears on the other.

You don’t have to have MobileMe to sync calendars on your Mac and iPhone, but without it, you’ll be able to synchronize only when you connect your iPhone to your Mac with its included USB cable. With MobileMe, all syncing happens automatically — almost immediately — and wirelessly over Wi-Fi or cellular data networks.